Woman&#39;s undergarment



1 B. PRUTT WOMAN sept. 1, 1936.

S UNDERGARMENT Filed Oct. 17, 1935 PatentedlSe-pt. l, 1936 i l PATENT ori-lcs l uNIT'ED STATES i'claim.

'I'he present invention relates to womens unv derga ents, and it is particularly concerned with W mens undergarments of the combination variety.

It has lpreviously been proposed to make combined u dergarments, so as to reduce the number of indi dual g rments worn. However, most of the arments eretofore proposed are of such a comp icated character that they are more cumbersom vfand bulky to wear, are more costly, and

are more' difiicult to lander, than individual garments. i The garments of the prior art are also objectionable because they do not t the form of the wearer and in general fail to perform the purposes sought to be attained by a combination garment. v

In the garments of the prior art there has been no attempt to provide a simple structure, and to eliminate` unnecessary or duplicated parts, 20 but such garments rather represent the attempt to sew; together various individual garments, without:y regard to t or practicability.

It isv accordingly the primary object of my invention to provide a novel undergarment which eiciently combines, in a single garment a brassire, slip and step-in, which ts the form, supports the busts of the wearer, lits snugly about the hips and over the abdomen, and yet is low in cost and may be readily laundered.

It is another important object of my invention to devise a combination undergarment which provides a brassire, a slip and a step-in and yet which is made of what is essentially a single piece of material, which is light in weight so that it may be easily packed in a small space for travel, and. which may be readily'donned, thus saving time in dressing.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the speciilcation proceeds in con- 40 nection with the annexed drawing andirom the appended claim. l

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front view of my novel garment illustrating the manner in which it is worn;

Figure 2 is a rear view of the garment shown in Figure 1; v

Figure 3 is a front view of my garment laid out iiat to show the details of its construction# Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4l of Figure 3. looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a fragmentalsectional 'view taken on line 5,-5 of- Figure 3; and

Figure-6 is a fragmental sectional view taken on line 6-,6 of\ Figure 3.

vor the like.

(Cl. 2-71) A.

With continued reference to the drawing, wherein like reference characters are employed to designate like parts throughout the several views thereof, my garment comprises generally an upper waist section A, a step-in'section B and 5 a skirt section The upper waist section in which the brassire is formed is made up of a plurality of pieces of elastic material I0, such as net, knitted materialrfo" the like. The pieces are cut to provide 10 afionnftting bust supporting section and are viewed together at H and the'seams are prefer# ablyhcovered by tapes or strips of lace G2.

Theiront part of section A is provided with a pair of bust-pocket forming sections i'which l5 are formed by folding material Ill upon itself and stitching the folds at i4, as seen in Figure 4.

Upper waist section A may be provided with a dcollet or low back if desired, but in the present instance I have for simplicity shown .a back of ordinary height, and it is preferably provided with a vertical opening l5, closed by any suitable form of fasteners such as hooks and eyes i6.

Slip C and step-in section B are secured to the lower edge of upper waist section A substantially at the hip-line, as seen in Figure 5 by stitches I1, and Vin this gure the thickness of the material has been exaggerated in order to more clearly. illustrate the vmanner in which the parts are united.

Step-in section B comprises a front piece I! and a rear piece 20 which preferably extend substantially from side to side of the garment, as seen 'in Figures 3 and 6. By making pieces I9 and 20 extend from side to side, and securing their upper edges at all points to the lower edges of pieces I0, any pull exerted by the step-in is distributed to the entire lower edge of the brassire section so as to avoid .developing wrinkles in sections A and C in the region of their joinder. As seen in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the upper waist section closely fits the body so as to exert a conning action thereupon. This feature also causes the upper waist section to derive considerable support from the body, thereby relieving the shoulder-strap 45 load and also insuring that the lower edge of the upper waist section will lie straight and smooth. which in turn insures that the upper edges of the skirt and step-in sections will lie iiat against the body without pulling or bunching.

The lower ends of pieces I9 and 2l taper as see in Figures 1, 2 and 3, and a strap 2| is connected to rear piece 20. Strap 2| is detachably fastened to front, piece I9 by means ofsnap fasteners y2v2 From the above description it is seen that I have provided a form tting combination undergarment whlch'fulillls all of the requirements of brassire, slip and step-in, and yet which is of simple design and construction and ts the body closely and allows freedom of movement.

The garment is slipped over the head and strap 2l then fastened in place, and hooks and eyes I6 fastened. Therefore, by slipping on a single garment the'wearer is ready for her gown or dress as the case may be.

The invention may be embodied in otherA specie forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. The illustrated embodiment is intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, the scope of the invention being del lineated by the appended claim, and all equivalents are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim as my invention:

A combination undergarment comprising an upper waist section, a skirt and a step-in, said upper waist section having a. single pair of shoulder straps and extending to substantially the hipline and being composed of elastic material cuttening devices for detachably securing the edges of said opening together, said skirt and said stepin being stitched to the lower edge of said upper I waist section, to thereby cause them to lie smoothly over the body without wrinkling or bunching, said step-in comprising a front piece and a rear piece extending substantially the full width of the garment at their upper edges and tapering down- .wardly and detachably secured together at their free ends to provide a narrow crotch engaging portion, said skirt depending a considerable distance below said step-in and being of va length comparable to dress lengths to thereby function as a petticoat. A

LILLIAN B. PRUETT. 

